Skip to main content

The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro: book review





The Muralist (2015) is about the disappearance of Alizee Benoit in New York City in 1940, and seventy-five years later in 2015 when her great-niece, Danielle Abrams, tries to solve the mystery.

On the eve of the Second World War, 22-year-old American mural painter Alizee Benoit, is working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). When the president’s wife, and arts patron, Eleanor Roosevelt, visits the WPA, Alizee spontaneously begins a bold conversation about the need for ‘innovative’ and ‘forceful’ abstract murals. This conversation gains some interest from the First Lady.

Soon after the conversation, Alizee disappears. Not even her Jewish family living in German-occupied France, knows where she is. Not even her artist friends, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner, knows where she is.

Alizee’s great-niece Danielle Abrams unearths the works of the famous Abstract Expressionist artists 70 years after her great aunt went missing. But did the artists or their works hold the answers to her aunt’s disappearance? There were rumours that Alizee was Rothko’s lover, and that Pollock was jealous. Was her Jewish heritage and pre-war politics part of the answer. Was she arrested as a suspected political agitator? Or was she bipolar and suicidal, or an amnesiac who got lost?

In addition to being a novel of mystery, mixing fictional characters with real-life people, it also outlines the historical beginnings of the American school of Abstract Expressionism. It explores whether art is political and whether politics defines art.

It is an interesting beginning – the entanglement of art and war-time propaganda – but it was not quite gripping enough for me. If a reader is interested in the art scene of the times, the abstract artists were not well developed, focusing predominantly on three now-famous names, without full knowledge of the many American and European artists experimenting in the genre at the time that were also influential and influenced. For readers of mysteries, it is light but rises in parts. For those seeking Franco-American linkages, there is some of that. In combination, the novel is a reasonable read.


MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...
2 comments
Read more

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...
1 comment
Read more